Tia Maria, meet Mr Black: coffee liqueurs are cooler than ever

When I was growing up, Tia Maria seemed impossibly glamorous. The dark coffee liqueur was my mother’s rare treat after a dinner party, sipped from slender-waisted sherry schooners. That was the ’70s and ’80s though – sweet liqueurs soon fell off my radar.

Now Tia Maria has a new-look, sleeker bottle. And, alongside Kahlua and more recent rivals, it is back in vogue, served straight-up in tumblers over ice and, more often, as the base for espresso Martinis or more complex and esoteric coffee cocktails.

Altogether more macho than Tia Maria is the new coffee liqueur Mr Black. An Australian concoction that looks like liquid tar, it tastes intensely of espresso, with a lingering finish of mocha and liquorice.

It’s made in a New South Wales microdistillery with just cold-extracted coffee, raw grain spirit and a little sugar. The end result isn’t energy-drink-strong in caffeine, but I’d only want...